Here's a colorful lamp with an unusually magnetic personality. In the table model, Lana from Pablo Studios utilizes a unique magnetized design for effortless attachment to a sculptural steel stand, with complete 360-degree rotation. Craft meets technology in the handmade wool-felt shade joined with the magnetic LED lighting module. Illumination equivalent to 25 years of daily use (95 percent more efficient than comparable halogens and 80 percent more efficient than CFL bulbs.) Touch-sensitive switch offers full-range dimming and light-level memory and the premium leather strap on the shade makes for easy adjustment of the directional light source.

“Lighting is undergoing a revolution at the moment,” says Venezuelan-born designer/entrepreneur Pablo Pardo, who’s leading the disruption with the mix of cutting-edge technology and always-cool minimalism behind his signal brand Pablo. As he puts it, nowadays, “you can build smarts right into the lamp.” Internationally recognized, the San Francisco company was started 20-odd years ago and now Pablo racks up design awards regularly for its more than 40 technology-driven and elegantly sparse collections worldwide.

The lighting industry thought-leader credits his upbringing in a family of artists and engineers for the always forward-facing Pablo style, which embraces innovations such as LEDs and flat-panel light. “Lighting is also shrinking in size: LEDs are so small that you can put them almost anywhere,” he adds. “So the standard iconography of a lamp with a shade is being upended.”